


Social Climb

by CherryblossomBucks



Series: Be Advised: Participation Is Required [1]
Category: Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Professional Wrestling
Genre: (but once again only implied), (not explicit for once: only heavily implied), Demon AU, Kayfabe Compliant, M/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-10 22:31:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18417194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryblossomBucks/pseuds/CherryblossomBucks
Summary: Adam Cole makes his PWG debut on October 22nd 2011. That night, he expected to win the tag titles, and the heart of the crowd in the process, sell some merch, and maybe do some important networking.What he didn't expect was being asked about his thoughts on the details of an incestuous relationship and becoming so invested in gaining recognition from his opponents.





	Social Climb

**Author's Note:**

> so, this is a bit of a weird one. it's the first in a series of companion fics to a long fic that i have only barely started writing, and wont be focusing on until i've finished Expect it to Remain. it was also supposed to be something of a crack fic, focusing on what the hell was going on in the pwg locker room during that period of time where the bucks would continuously be put into... let's say, compromising positions, by their opponents. but then, it became this
> 
> either way, please enjoy! writing adam was fun, and im excited for this series to let me write characters i normally wouldnt.
> 
> title from 'Social Climb' by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME, which is a wonderful anthem for the eventual main fic

To say that Adam Cole was nervous when stepping into the PWG locker room for the first time would be an understatement. Sure, he can’t be described as a nobody – he’s the CZW junior heavyweight champion for fucks sake, and he’s had several matches for ROH! He’s doing pretty well for himself if he would say so himself (and he will) – but this is P W Fucking G. The roster is full of Americas finest indie wrestlers, so he needs to make a good impression. And sure, he’s fought several of the people there already, but he’s lost almost every time and it’s time to show them all what he can do.

Maybe he should wait for Kyle. But Kyle is stuck in traffic, and if he gets another weird look from anyone for loitering outside the back entrance of Reseda he’s gonna start trying to explain himself which would just make things worse. So he takes a deep breath and psyches himself up with a light slap to the face before he pushes the door open. Only the door doesn’t budge. Heat rising to his face he pulls on it instead, and this time it does open, and Adam steps into the short corridor behind it.

There are voices coming from behind a plastic shower curtain at the end of the corridor. It’s hard to hear what is being said since there’s several people shouting over each other and laughing, but Adam steps towards it. He stops with his hand stretched out to almost touch it, wondering what type of entrance he should make, but the decision is made for him when it’s abruptly pulled to the side.

“Oh, hey!” Adam relaxes slightly at the pleasantly surprised voice of Chuck Taylor, “Andrew, right?”

“Uh, Adam, actually.” Adam prides himself on only stuttering a little.

“Right!” Chuck claps a hand onto Adam’s shoulder and practically drags him into the room behind the curtain, shouting excitedly, “Guys, guys, guys!”

The previously chaotic conversation dies down as all the eyes in the room turn to the two of them.

“This is Adam – what was your last name?” Chuck’s voice is loud, despite the room being small and cramped, and Adam sort of wants to sink through the floor as he supplies him with his full name, “Adam Cole! And he’s new! Generico, you remember Adam right? From Germany.”

“Ah, si!” comes from one of the corners of the room after just a short hesitation – it’s been barely three weeks since Germany, but Adam gets it, he doesn’t remember everyone he fights either. He tried, for a while, but one-off meetings in multi-person matches make things hard. Besides, Adam can’t see El Generico from where he’s standing, so odds are he can’t see Adam either.

“Careful Bucks,” comes a voice from the opposite corner of the room, over by an old CRT TV monitor. When Adam looks over he’s surprised to see Kevin Steen in the same room as El Generico, but then with the amount of people crammed into the small space he supposes they never have to look at each other, “This one’s pretty.”

“Shut up Steen,” someone says, sounding annoyed, and Adam turns around from Kevin to a small couch along one of the walls, where the Young Bucks are lounging together. They look different from when he’s seen them backstage at ROH shows; there they’re quiet and moving around as if they don’t want to be seen. Here they look like they think they own the place, managing to take up the entire sofa while still sitting as close together as is humanly possible.

“We’ve got all of you wrapped around our little fingers, and no pretty boy’s gonna be able to change that easily,” the Jackson with the darker hair says, glaring over at Steen but barely even glancing at Adam, and the voice is different from the previous one. He still can’t tell them apart properly, if he’s honest.

“Oh, right, Adam,” Chuck turns to look Adam seriously in the eyes as the conversations around them start back up, “Who tops?”

Adam squints at him, not sure if he understands the question. “What?”

“Of the Bucks! When they fuck, who do you think tops?” There are several groans at the line from the people around them. Groans that tell Adam that this is not the first time the question has been asked, as well as the fact that they are being listened to even if it doesn’t seem like it.

“Uhhh,” Adam lets out a short incredulous laugh, “Again, what?”

“Come on, Chuckie,” a new voice says, and Candice LeRae steps up to them, shooting Adam an apologetic look, “It’s his first show, you can’t just ask him about the Great Debate.”

“He’s fighting them tonight! He has a right to know!” Adam looks at the two of them bewildered, and then looks over to the Bucks again, to see if they have any sort of reaction to the subject.

They’re both still reclining on the sofa, hair tied up and wearing their own merch. They both look highly amused as they whisper to each other, and one of them catches him staring and winks. Adam looks away quickly, feeling his face heat up.

“But, that’s incest,” he mutters to himself, confused, but it seems like Candice heard him because she puts a hand on his shoulder in consolation.

“We don’t know for sure,” she says, “Evidence points to that they are, but they still haven’t confirmed it. They won’t deny it either though, and that’s as good as a confession of guilt as anything.”

“And everyone’s just cool with it?”

Candice shrugs, “Every workplace has its idiosyncrasies.”

Adam has no idea what to say to that, but he doesn’t have to say anything at all because Candice starts talking again after just a short pause.

“Anyway, welcome to PWG!” She holds out her hand, “I’m Candice LeRae.”

Adam takes it to shake, relieved that the subject’s been dropped, “Adam Cole.”

“Nice to meet you, I hope you and your partner kick their asses tonight.” She turns away with a smile, but seems to hesitate, turning back around to add “It’s Nick, by the way. I’m sure.”

“Bold choice,” Chuck says to her back in a grave voice as she leaves, and Adam is just getting more and more weirded out by the moment. “Anyway, you don’t have to answer right away, but there is a betting pool, just so you know.”

Chuck doesn’t mention it again as he shows Adam around the building, and Adam tries to forget that it was brought up at all. Maybe it’s just a harmless rib that they play on newcomers.

He has the distinct feeling of being watched as he waits for Kyle to show up, but that’s nothing new. He had the same feeling when he joined ROH and CZW, and there it disappeared over time as he proved that he belonged, so he has no doubt that the same will happen here. What is new is not being able to catch anyone in the act. The other times he’s been able to pinpoint a few people who seem extra critical, but everyone here seems to be occupied with their own thing. He keeps glancing around though, and for some reason his eyes continue to be drawn towards the Bucks.

They don’t move from the couch; if anything they just sink into it and each other more and more, the lighter haired one has his head resting on the other one’s shoulder now, and Adam can’t call what they’re doing anything other than cuddling, absorbed in a world of their own. He starts to wonder if there’s any truth to the incest thing, they certainly look comfortable enough in each other’s space, but it could just be a twin thing. Because they are twins, right? He’s pretty sure they’re twins.

Either way, he catches himself staring at them, and has to tear his eyes away before he gets caught again. He pulls out his phone in a hope to keeps himself distracted, and if he looks up whether they’re twins or not then who’s going to find out? (They’re not, it turns out. In fact there’s four years between them, and Adam wants to look back up at them in disbelief but he can’t let himself. He also takes the time to try and memorize who’s who of them; Matt is the one with darker hair, Nick the one with lighter.)

Kyle finally shows up about fifteen minutes later, and they go around the room making their introductions together, like a team should. The reactions to them range from excitement to mild disinterest, but Adam hesitates as they draw closer to the Bucks. Kyle gives him a questioning look, before stepping up to the two of them.

“Hey!” he starts, much like they’ve started every short conversation so far: casual but not overly friendly, perfect for first meetings, “We’ve met at ROH before, but I don’t know if we had time to introduce ourselves properly.”

The Bucks have barely acknowledged his existence when Adam finally comes up next to him, but Kyle presses on, holding out a hand to shake. “I’m Kyle O’Reilly, this is Adam Cole. Together we’re Future Shock.”

“Uhuh,” Matt grunts with indifference, before tapping Nick on the arm and angling his phone to let him read. Nick gives a snort of laughter, and then they go back to their own phones. Adam and Kyle exchange a look.

“I don’t know if you heard him?” Adam says, even though he’s sure they heard Kyle perfectly, “But we’re Future Shock? Your opponents tonight?”

“So?” Matt finally looks up at them, eyebrows raised.

“Right now you’re just being our annoyances,” Nick quips, and Matt looks down at him with a smile.

“So shouldn’t you care? I dunno, knowing who I’m fighting tends to help _me_ with strategy at least.” Adam knows that he shouldn’t care as much as he does, if anything he should be glad that they’re not trying to strategize because that would help their chances, wouldn’t it?

“Shouldn’t you be glad if we’re unprepared?” Matt says, mirroring Adam’s thoughts in an uncanny way.

“Gives ‘em a shot, yeah?” Why do they keep looking at each other when Adam is right there, trying to talk to them? Why does he care so much about it? He should just grab Kyle’s arm and leave these two self-centred assholes alone until it’s time to fight them, but he just wants them to _look_ at him.

“What, you think we can’t take you?” Kyle is getting agitated, and Adam is right there with him. He’s not sure where this intense need for recognition came from, but it has him feeling unbalanced, and that only fuels his irritation more. He wonders if Kyle is having the same thoughts, and briefly considers asking him about it, but if Adam is alone in these feelings Kyle might just think that he’s being weird.

“Woah there buddy,” Matt laughs, eyes sweeping over their aggressive stances.

“Super Dragon’ll have your heads if you start anything in here,” Nick drawls. They both look extremely proud of themselves; riling them up to this extent must have been their plan from the beginning.

“Whatever.” Adam tries not show any anger in his voice, but he knows he doesn’t manage it. He’ll just have to show them why they should be watching him later, during the match. When he and Kyle take their titles from them they’ll have to pay attention to him. Kyle turns away from them and Adam follows him as he starts to leave.

“But hey,” Adam pauses as Matt speaks, glancing back at him, “Show us a good time out there and we might have you for _dinner_ next time.”

The way he puts emphasis on the word coupled with a sharp smile has Adam thinking that there’s some other meaning he’s supposed to read from the suggestion, but he can’t figure out what. The obvious one doesn’t seem like it fits; they wouldn’t so much as spare a glance for him earlier, so why would they be flirting now? It wouldn’t be the first time he’s been flirted with by another wrestler backstage, but it’s generally not by the people he’s fighting that night.

He shakes his head as he catches up to Kyle. It’s probably just an attempt at getting into his head. He’d been caught looking at them earlier after all, maybe they misread it as interest. Adam’s sure they have good reason to.

“Dicks,” Kyle mutters under his breath as they make their way out to the main room, Adam has to agree. 

They take their time to test the ropes and get to know the ring a little before the doors open. Candice shows them how best to hang their shirts on the ropes for the pre-show commerce, and they even manage to sell a couple – they’ll probably do better after the show, when they’ve had the time to show the crowd what they can do, and have the tag titles in hand.

The Bucks nearly sell out, not that Adam cares, it’s just that they won’t shut up about it. He wonders how they do it; everyone they talk to seems to hate them and yet there’s barely a person that leaves the conversation without buying something. It has to be something about the way they smile, or the way Matt keeps fussing with his hair – it’s much looser tied now than it was before. It’s honestly distracting, the way that he keeps having to tuck loose strands back behind his ear.

It’s not long before they have to clear out of the ring to let the show get under way. Adam changes in the back with everyone else. The room is on it’s way to being uncomfortably warm and stuffy from the amount of people staying in there, but the main room isn’t much better when they get out there for their match.

He doesn’t know why he does what he does in the match – locking Nick’s legs around Matt’s hips is not a particularly effective offensive move – but Kyle had seemingly been on the exact same page as him, so that’s definitely a good sign for their teamwork. They lose, but the crowd cants for them to come back after, which leaves Adam feeling triumphant anyway.

“So, I guess you’re on team Matt then,” Chuck says, giving Adam a clap on the shoulder as they step back through the curtain. Kyle gives him a questioning look, but Adam can only shake his head in response.

Adam tries not to watch the Bucks during the main event, and he mostly succeeds. Their mood has changed pretty drastically from before the show, and Adam doesn’t want to think it’s because of him and Kyle, but he could see the change really set in after Matt seemingly got a nosebleed. He’s not even sure there was any blood, but he remembers Matt checking for it, and he and Kyle were quickly dealt with after it.

They had been getting serious about it already, which Adam _will_ take credit for; at the start of the match it had felt like the Bucks were playing with them, spending more energy on taunting the crowd than fighting. Even as Adam and Kyle got more offense in it felt like they were having fun, which Adam can understand – he wouldn’t be doing this if he didn’t find it enjoyable in some way – but after the shift, it just felt intense. Adam doesn’t know how else to describe it, and that feeling hasn’t left since.

They’re quiet as they stand just behind the curtain, peeking out at the match going on. They’d peek out at the matches before theirs occasionally as well, where they would give a comment or otherwise react to what was happening, but now they’re just still, and silent. He knows it’s not because there’s nothing to react to, because it’s _Kevin Steen_ and _El Generico_ , in a _ladder match_ , and the crowd is far from quiet.

Finally, they make their way through the curtain, and no one tries to stop them. Adam can hear the sound of chairs hitting bodies, and then they’re back again. They stay just behind the curtain, grinning, eyes locked on each other. Then, the roar of the crowd for what Adam suspects is the match finishing, and they’re gone again. He can hear that Matt is talking into a mic, but not what is being said, and then the lights go out, and the crowd goes wild.

Everyone seems to do their best to avert their eyes as the Bucks stumble into the room, arms around each other and giggling hysterically. Adam can’t blame them, there’s an aura of madness and violence around them, something terrifying in their faces. He thinks he understands now, how they can be so annoying and arrogant and still, in some way, respected.

Matt practically throws himself onto the couch and Nick wastes no time in straddling his hips, pressing their foreheads together. They look deranged with matching wide grins on their faces and their hair coming loose from their ties messily. They don’t seem to care about the fact that the room is still full of people, and the others don’t seem to find it out of the ordinary, so this must be the basis for Chucks question from earlier in the night.

“We’re fighting Super Dragon!” Matt laughs in delight. Around them everyone is moving to get the second round of merch-selling for the night under way, Kyle included, but Adam cant tear his eyes away from the two of them.

“We’re fighting Super Dragon,” Nick echoes just as excited, and then Matt draws back slightly. He has his hands gripping Nick’s face, but suddenly he pauses. His head swings around to look straight at Adam, and the light must catch weirdly in his eyes because for a second Adam could swear that they were glowing.

Matt’s face falls into an unreadable expression, but his gaze keeps Adam frozen on the spot. It reminds him of the way Matt had looked at him once, during the match. Adam had kicked out, and Matt had just sat there, on his knees and watched him. Slowly Nick looks at him as well, stare just as intense as his brother’s. Adam feels like his heart is trying to beat out of his chest, and he’s cold all over. Nick cocks his head, and Adam get’s the impression that he is prey being evaluated by a pair of predators. After everything, having this serious look directed at himself is unnerving, but Adam can’t move, can’t get his throat to make any sort of sound.

Suddenly, all of the tension in Matt’s body drains at once, and the spell is broken. Adam feels like he can finally breathe again as Matt falls back against the couch in a languid motion. His lips quirk up in a smirk and Nick looks back down at him.

“If you want a show it’s gonna cost you,” Matt says, still keeping eye contact with Adam, even as people pass between them on the way out to the ring. Adam shakes his head, swallowing.

“No thank you,” he croaks out, trying to not run as he flees from the room.

“Your loss!” Nick calls after him, but he doesn’t dare to turn around and look at them again.

He’s sure that the whole thing didn’t go unnoticed by everyone else, but Kyle doesn’t comment on his flushed face when Adam joins him in the ring, or the way he fidgets, trying to adjust his pants into a more comfortable position.

All in all, they make about 200 dollars each in merch sales that night.


End file.
